Cambodia
| HistoryText = Ancient Times Centuries ago a group of natives built a temple around the well in the hopes the tribe could one day harness the power of the well. These people became known as the Cult of the Dragon's Breadth. Over the centuries the cult began practicing selective breeding in the hopes of breeding a generation that could harness the power of the well. 9th century Cambodia arose as a country from the states of Funan and Chenla who became the Khmer Empire in the 9th century. French domination The country was administered by France from 1863 to 1953. 20th Century After World War II, the generation expected by the Cult of the Dragon's Breath came about and included Tai. Tai began killing her rivals in the cult to ensure she alone would tap into its power. Her people believed in a prophecy that Westerners would one day marry into the cult and that from these unions would come powerful children who could be sacrificed to the well in order to grant someone the power of the well. Vietnam War Though Cambodia remained neutral, the events of the Vietnam War would often over spill into the neighboring Cambodia. During the Vietnam War, the prophecy seemingly came to pass when a unit of Vietnam soldiers called the Half-Fulls stumbled upon the temple in the jungle. Tai promised the 6 men (Daryl Taylor, Andrew Chord, Diego Casseas, Mark Conroy, Collier Mack and Go Vin Ng) undreamt of power if they agreed to marry and father children with the six maiden brides ("The Daughters of the Dragon") of the cult. Almost all other members of the cult had been killed off by Tai by this point. 5 of the 6 soldiers agreed but Night Thrasher's father Daryl refused on the grounds he was already happily married (ironically he would later go on to father an illegitimate child anyways). This agreement was known as "The Pact" and the product of these unions were known as the "Children Of The Pact". One of the soldiers Andrew Chord had married Miyami the only one of the six brides who was Tai's biological daughter. Miyami had two children Midnight's Fire and Silhouette. Not wanting to lose her children to her mother's sick schemes Miyami plotted to fake her death and the deaths of her children in a car accident. She arranged for her children to be given new names and be raised in Chinatown. Andrew and his mother-in-law Tai assumed the children were dead. For years Andrew wandered the world as a mercenary until he came upon the temple again and renewed his acquaintance with his mother-in-law. Tai fearing the Pact was unraveling chose to leave her temple and return to the United States with Chord. In 1975, the communist Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot came to power and initiated waves of genocide that lasted until 1979. The Khmer Rouge's operations kept on in the country, known as Kampuchea, for years to come. Modern Era Mr. Fantastic and the Thing find themselves in Cambodia where Famine of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is starving everyone there to death. Reed forces one man under Famine's influence to eat, before the two heroes attack Famine directly. Reed wraps his body around Famine, and eventually Famine is defeated like the other two horsemen. After the Punisher was rescued by Susie in the Siem Pang swamp, he killed two twin crooks who stole his guns and her abusing husband. Cloak and Dagger's quest for the source of the international drug ring ends in Southeast Asia with devastating consequences. When Magneto's derelict Asteroid M was destroyed, its core fell on Kampuchea. Magneto, worried about his former equipment being recovered by mutant-hating activists, went to Cambodia to recover it. He was intercepted by others who had seen the meteor and had predicted his move: The Avengers, sent by the United Nations to arrest Magneto and take him to international trial; and the Soviet Super-Soldiers, sent by the U.S.S.R. because a Soviet tribunal had already found Magneto guilty of murder by sinking the Soviet submarine Leningrad. Magneto's allies, the X-Men, also went to help their mutant colleague. The unavoidable three-way battle royale ended in the Avengers defeating the Super-Soldiers while the X-Men tried to escape with Magneto; but Magneto refused to leave without blowing up the asteroid, and the X-Men left in the ''Blackbird'' without him. When Magneto was preparing the explosion, the Avengers appeared to arrest him. Magneto, not having a chance to explain, sank the stone to protect his enemies and confronted them. The X-Men, thinking twice their original approach, came back to fight the Avengers again. Magneto finally told them about the bomb, but not even Avenger Captain Marvel was quick enough to stop it, and Magneto had to create a magnetic shield to protect the others. The X-Men recovering before the Avengers, left in the plane, with Avenger Doctor Druid as a secret stowaway. Super-Soldier Titanium Man (Gremlin) took the chance to place a tracking device on the X-Men's plane. The Avengers regrouped on Tonle Sap, wondering, like the Super-Soldiers, where would Magneto go next. Both the Avengers and the Soldiers followed the trail to Singapore. ... As the New Warriors and Folding Circle eventually converged on the Temple in Cambodia, Tai later explains the origins of the cult to both groups. Left Hand tells the groups that the original end of the prophecy was that the children of the pact would enter the Well and gain omnipotence but this went against Tai's plan who wanted the power for herself. Tai's original plan was to sacrifice the Folding Circle to the Well of All Things but at some point had decided to sacrifice the Warriors instead and keep the Folding Circle as her avatars of world domination. Night Thrasher kills Tai to prevent her from dropping his friends into the well and Nova leaves Left Hand to drop to his death and he too falls into the well and seemingly perishes. As a result of this the Well of All Things implodes and takes the temple with it. Later Silhouette is sent into the past by the villain the Sphinx. There Silhouette meets her grandmother as a young girl in the temple in Cambodia. Even as a young girl Tai is plotting to seize power and demands Silhouette help her eliminate Tai's young rival Chei-Lin. Silhouette dumps her young grandmother in the well and reasons that this will not affect her own future but just create an alternate timeline. Many years later the Well of All Things was revealed to be tied to a concept called the Wellspring of Power. Apparently there are several other pinpoints all over the globe that access multiple dimensions and that supposedly this is the source of various super beings powers on earth. Through a series of machinations Baron Helmut Zemo ends up in control of this energy and uses it to defeat the Grandmaster. Songbird not trusting the Baron betrays him and sends him hurtling back in time. Alternate Realities Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) The original Captain America, having been found alive since, was sent to investigate along with the British S.A.S. Steve Rogers confronted Frank Simpson, after Frank murdered the latest test subject and tried to flee, and was bested by his successor. Before leaving Rogers, Frank said to him to look for him personally in order to show Rogers "what America really stands for." More than a week later, Rogers tracked Frank to a remote Cambodian village of Saloth where he was severely underestimated and beaten by the villagers, who were injected with Frank's serum. Frank imprisoned Rogers and took this as an opportunity to help Rogers "open" his eyes to the truth. Everyday, Frank would force Rogers to listen to his personal historical lectures on American international interventions. He would force Rogers to watch and learn of the horrors the American government had done to other people in hopes that Rogers would finally understand his reasons for having against the United States. However, Rogers resisted the entire time. Frank eventually lost his patience and planned to execute Rogers. However, Steve was able to get the upper hand after spitting venom in Frank's eye which he had ripped out of a cobra seconds before. Steve managed to subdue him before being taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. | PointsOfInterest = * Phnom Penh * Siem Pang * Temple of the Dragon's Breadth * Well of All Things | Residents = * Tai * Miyami Chord | Notes = | Trivia = | Links = }} Category:French Empire